EDINBURGH'S WORLD-FAMOUS festivals,whichfrequently featureenvironmental themes, have come under fire for failing to curb the huge amounts of waste and pollution they create.

Someenvironmentalistsareeven suggesting that international festivals may have to be abandoned to help save the planet from the disasters threatened by global warming. Major cultural and sportingeventsare"unsustainable", theyargue,becausetheyencourage thousands of people to travel by air.

Though the Edinburgh festivals are not about to accept their own demise, they have all been prompted to start thinking about their green credentials. And some are thinking harder than others, an investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed.

The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) said they were taking environmental issues seriously.Buttheyprovidedfew examples of their commitment, beyond a little recycling.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival(EIBF)insistedithadgone further, but it has nevertheless attracted some strong criticism. As a major forum for innovative environmental thinking, it should be taking the lead in greening the festivals, critics argued.

"Progress on environmental issues beyond recycling is poor," said Les Wallace, who was the book festival's recycling co-ordinator for the past four years. Although the festival had been "very supportive" of recycling schemes for paper, bottle and cans, it had done little else, he added.

Wallace is so frustrated by the lack of progress on reducing the use of energy, water and other resource that he has told the festival's organisers that he will not work with them again this year. "It could take the leading role in greening the world's largest arts festival," he argued.

"As a registered charity which actually makesmoneyfromeventandbook sales on environmental themes, I do not believe that it should do anything less than implement a full environmental strategy."

The book festival has attracted complaints for leaving lights on 24 hours a day, and for buying garden furniture made from tropical hardwoods. It also fliesinauthorsfrommorethan30 countries, including the former US vice-president Al Gore last year to talk about climate change.

Dr Richard Dixon, the director of WWF Scotland, pointed out thatthebookfestivalhad beena"showcase"fornew thinkingontheenvironment."Itis thereforeunfortunateifthefestival itself is not meeting the highest environmental standards," he said.

"This is a lost opportunity to join up good ideas with good practice. The festivals are the highlight of Edinburgh's culturalcalendar,buttheymustnot comeattheexpenseoftheenvironment."

EIBF director, Catherine Lockerbie, gaveadetaileddefenceofher organisation's environmental record. Recycling was started in 2000 and developed in subsequent years, she said, and earlier this month the festival's governing board agreed the need for a full environmental audit.

She accepted that lights had been left on all the time because of the way contractors had wired them, but promised "this will definitely be sorted". And she argued that if the festival had made the mistake of buying tropical hardwood, it was now best to keep using it.

Air travel by authors was "a conundrum", she said. "We are looking at various ways of dealing with this. We have one innovative solution which will be unveiled at our launch in mid-June."

Lockerbie pointed out that staff all cametoworkbyfoot,bikeorpublic transport. She didn't own a car and was switching from planes to trains for trips to London. "We are a very green' organisation," she claimed.

"As with most organisations, there is muchmorewecouldbedoingto minimise our impact upon the planet. We are actively seeking the means to do so, to ensure that our own actions, as well as the discussions and debates we present, help safeguard the future of our fragile planet."

Responses from the other festivals were less fulsome. The EIF said it was attending a meeting next month on how to cut environmentalimpacts."Weconsciously work to minimise unnecessary travel and the impact from the daily running of the business," said a spokesperson.

The Fringe stressed that, with 1900 shows and an audience of half a million, reducing waste was a challenge. "We're printing the programme on recycled paper and also looking into the possibility of installing recycling bins," said a spokesperson.

"Wedoalsoadviseperformersto print on recycled papers when printing their flyers. But clearly there's always more to be done."

According to Ginnie Atkinson, the managing director of the EIFF, the environment had moved up the agenda in the past six months. "We are all catching up, I suspect," she said.

The film festival was considering how to "balance" the air travel it causes and has recycled video tapes and DVDs in Liverpool, she added. Staff have set up a committee to maximise recycling at Edinburgh's Filmhouse.

According to some, however, these efforts may be nowhere near enough. Theleadingenvironmentalauthor, George Monbiot, is a big fan of the book festival and a regular speaker there, but he is worried about whether it has a future.

"Festivals that bring in thousands of people from other places are unsustainable,"hetoldtheSundayHerald. "Maybewehavetogiveupinternational festivals and sporting events."

Offsettingthepollution causedbysucheventsby plantingtreesorfunding renewable energy projects was not a solution, Monbiot argued. "They encourage complacency," he said.

Friends of the Earth Scotland agreed it was only a matter of time before people started questioning the "massive environmental impact" of international events.

"A significant proportion of Scotland's economy has been built on the back of encouraging as many people as possible to travel here, mostly by plane," said the group's chief executive,Duncan McLaren.

Shutting down the festivals, though, would inflict severe cultural and economic damage. A recent study for the City of Edinburgh Council concluded that the 2.5 million visitors to all the city's 11 festivals generated £184 million a year for the Scottish economy.

Lockerbie pointed out that the live interactionofpeopleinphysical proximity was a unique way of sparking new ideas. "That is at the heart of the book festival," she said.

"However everyone looking into the future of large international gatherings has to ask the question about air travel and sustainability. Imaginative solutionsneedtobeexplored,and quickly.

Edinburgh was the world's pre-eminent festival city, a cultural and intellectual magnet and beacon, she argued.

"I'm confident that the creative thinkingwhichhasdriventhepastsix decades of our festivals will find ways to address what the future holds."